Madrileño por 24 horas - 12

Well howdy and welcome to week 12! This past weekend was a bit of a whirlwind; as you may be able to deduce from the title, I went to Madrid for a 24 hour tour before dressing up to join the posh sector of Barcelona society for a Tchaikovsky concert at the Palau de la Música Catalana. Here's how it all went down:

Madrid - Along with my good buddy Alexis, I left Barcelona by bus at 11:00 pm Friday night.. We got to Madrid a little after 6am the following morning, and set about exploring the city. To tell the truth, there wasn't a whole lot to see in the cold, pre-dawn streets but soon things started to pick up, and after a delicious hot chocolate/churros/tortilla española breakfast we headed to the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid's famous art museum and one of the most treasured collections of European art in the world. It was really cool because, in my early years of Spanish classes, we would always have these, like, Cultura de España sections that would often feature pictures of paintings by the Spanish greats. At the Prado I got to see the real deal versions of works I remember from so many years ago: Las Meninas (Velázquez), San Andrés y San Francisco (El Greco), Colossus (Goya), and an entire Rubens - a Flemish painter but still legit - collection were all on tap. As Alexis noted, many of the paintings take some background knowledge (which we lacked) to understand well, but it was nevertheless amazing to see these masterpieces up close.

After bouncing around great art for awhile, we checked out another of Madrid's famous attractions, El Parque del Buen Retiro (literally: Good Retreat Park). This gorgeous, huge, aptly named haven recalled memories of my first visit there in 2006, when my brother was studying abroad in Spain. The park boasts wide pathways, gads of flora, an impressive monument to King Alfonso XII rising over a calm pond, a beautiful Palacio de Cristal, and - enjoying it all - scores of runners, hundreds of happy dogs, and thousands of ambling visitors. Here's a pic w/ the pondside monument in the background:



Probably the coolest part of the Madrid trip was attending an Atlético Madrid (not to be confused w/ Madrid soccer giant Real Madrid.. no one likes them) soccer game in their home stadium, the Calderón.. We managed to get reasonably-priced tickets just 6 rows back from the pitch, affording us an incredible view of the first-half Atlético offensive action, which was in great display! Some background: Atlético's biggest star is Diego Forlán, a flashy Uruguayan striker who, you may remember, won the golden ball this past summer as the Most Outstanding player of the World Cup. Coming into this game, he hadn't scored for Atlético in 12 games.. Not trying to brag, but before the game I called that Forlán would score two goals in a breakout performance to get him back on track, and Diego didn't disappoint, notching 2 goals and an assist. The two first-half goals - the second of which was stunning, set up by a gorgeous chip from Forlán to Kun Agüero - were followed by a ridiculous curling shot by Forlán in the 70th. Almost better than the soccer was the atmosphere inside the stadium - it was nuts! There was one section that literally cheered the entire time (I'm convinced they get free tickets or something for doing that every game), and the whole place exploded after every good play and goal.. When Forlán scored, everyone chanted: "Ur-u-guay-o! Ur-u-guay-o!". Even though it wasn't Barca playing, just being in such a soccer-crazy environment was great. Really cool experience. Oh, and Atlético ended up winning, 3-0. Highlights here if you're interested (you can hear the fans' craziness in the video.. really it's worth watching).



After the game, my friend and I enjoyed a nice home-cooked meal prepared by a friend's host señora. Then we saw the Madrid night life, and I caught a 7 am bus back to Barca to wrap up the day in Madrid.. My overall impressions? I liked Madrid, but I'm really glad I chose to study abroad in Barca. Madrid is spacious, sort of peaceful, beautiful, and a bit serious, but it doesn't have the energy and vivacity that Barcelona does. Of course, I'm biased, but that's my takeaway.


Lunch at the oldest restaurant in the world - el Botín!

Other random news items: In my 1st session w/ my 2nd intercambio (to practice spanish remember), my new friend took me to a swanky private club in the heart of Barcelona.. It had a sweet library, a goldfish pond, and a nice little outside terrace - all within the heart of the city! Also, I was able to see a Tchaikovsky concert - Piano Concerto No. 1, Swan Lake & 1812 Overture performed by the Russian Symphony Orchestra - at the Palau de la Música Catalana (I talked about the Palau in my 9th update) yesterday, which was a really cool experience. Seeing the music hall in the day, on an hour-long tour, was one thing but hearing some of the best classical music in the world, played by a premier orchestra, was another thing altogether. The flying horses, elegant roses, peaceful muses, and Catalan flags that adorn the place seemed to revel in the live music.. The crowd was quite enthusiastic too; because people wouldn't stop clapping at the end, the conductor was forced to have his musicians play 3 encores! All in all, the concert was pricey but I'm glad I went.

And finally, many of you know that my brother also has a blog, called "The 52 Week Project." This week he wrote a sad but, I think, very important piece about World War II and the near-inconceivable loss of lives it engendered, particularly in China. If you haven't had enough of Kurz blogs, check it out: http://www.the52weekproject.com/ There's a strong possibility that you will find Steve's posts more interesting than mine ;)

El Encanto Inglés - 11

Wow, so seeing that this is Week 11 just made me realize how ridiculously quickly time flies.. It has already been 2.5 months in Barca, with just about a month and a half to go. That means two things: (a) I've really got to "seize Barcelona" (that's a Miquel phrase) more than ever and (b) you've only got to stick it out for 6 more weeks before you get to stop receiving those update messages in your fb inbox..

But let's stop daydreaming and cut to the chase! This past week was cool, mainly because of a delightful trip to the UK over the weekend. It was great seeing three of my good buddies and spending a full day in both Oxford and London while being constantly bombarded by English charm (hence the name of this week's post). I think my first "welcome to England" moment was when my flight touched down in Gatwick, and the pilot said, "Well then, we're right on shejuwol, hope you're all tickety-boo!" HAH. I am definitely going to incorporate tickety-boo into my vocab from here on out. But more generally, the weekend impressed on me afresh how much more classy & proper the English are than we Americans.. Now don't get me wrong, I love a ton of things about the good ol' USA, but there's no getting around the fact that the English have got their social graces down. Plus, it just seems to me that literally ANYTHING said with an English accent automatically sounds at least 2x smarter/more interesting. If you don't believe me, think about this: Would the Planet Earth series have been nearly as resounding a success without the genius addition of Sir David Frederick Attenborough's voice? I hope I can rest my case here.

Another great part about England - they rep tea. For those who don't know this about me, I LOVE tea, and so of course I had to avail myself of the stuff in the land of Twinings, Earl Grey, clotted cream, and the scone.. It's pretty sweet, b/c the English have got an excuse to drink tea at just about every point of the day: breakfast tea suits the morning, cream tea (taken with some sort of pastry or scone spread with cream & jam) takes care of the afternoon, high tea (tea complemented with little sandwich guys or cold meats) is an early evening specialty, and the optional nightcap herbal tea ensures that a 4th cup can wiggle its way into the picture. I enjoyed several cups of this magical beverage while I was there.. Didn't taste any different, but I felt so cultured.

Alright, so what did I do besides admire the English? Well, the day in Oxford was lovely.. Many Americans probably don't know this (I didn't), but Oxford actually has a pretty disunified feel to it. The University is made up of 33 largely-autonomous colleges, such as St. John's, Christ Church College (where we got to see a stained-glass toilet!), or Hertford, and so walking around the campus is really an exercise in hopping from courtyard to courtyard. The city is definitely a beautiful place to stroll, and it has a pleasant, academic, multinational feel to it.. Check it out:




can you spot the toilet? (click on pic to make it bigger)

While my friends assured me that the "miserably wet" stereotype of England is false, it - of course - had to rain quite a bit during my days in both Oxford & London.. Anyway, before we jump to London, I have to mention the Oxford Castle.. My friend Eleanor and I took a guided tour and it was so interesting. The castle is a former prison that was in use from 1071-1996 and reveals a very different side of Oxford than the academic haven for which it is widely known. In fact, for centuries Oxford was a place of incarceration and execution, and its brutal living conditions (including bedroom-sized cells that packed in 60 inmates, often ankle deep in their own filth) were infamous. Almost 200 people were executed in Oxford over the years, and there are many fascinating stories about everything from executions gone wrong to criminals who headed to their death in stylish form. Beside the castle rises a hill where people apparently used to watch hangings with great gusto, as public executions were almost like a sporting event where many, even families, gathered for recreation.

Ok, London: The big point is that it was way too big for me to get a proper feel for it. However, via the excellent tour guideship of the brilliant David Roberts, we managed to hit the National Gallery, Tate Modern, River Thames, Borough Market, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theatre, Camden, the Natural History Museum, the VA Museum, and Trafalgar Square.. Not bad for one day! Of course, it was also ace just chatting with the friends and catching up on the present day... Aside from my height and decidedly American accent, I managed to stand out as a yankee by being the only person - literally - in the entire city to wear shorts in 35-45 degree weather. Oh well, old traditions die hard.. (although as a 5 year old, I consistently sported sweat pants throughout the summer, go figure). Finally, I made a classic U.S. mistake in booking my flight home: when I saw 7:20 on kayak.com at the end of September, I naturally assumed that 7:20 pm was a pretty normal time to fly home, and I jumped on the flight without thinking twice. Unfortunately, most people in Europe read that as 07:20 (rather than 19:20), meaning wayy early morning.. So, I stayed up until 3 am, caught a late bus to Gatwick, and left London at an obscenely early hour.

In other news: Today I learned that the only vegetarians in Spanish history have been the anarchists.. Guess they were the only crazies that would give up jamón ibérico and paella.


beastly Natural History Museum

Sassafras: Mi perrita preciosa - 10

Hey everyone.. This week's post is going to be a bit different, due to a pretty major event in my life this past week. Just a couple of days ago, my wonderful and faithful dog of 10 years died. I don't want to be mushy or anything, but I thought it might be nice to write some kind of tribute for her, so here it goes.

When we first got Sassy from my cousin (who breeds goldens in Colorado), she was - like many puppies - playful, happy-go-lucky, and inquisitive. The thing with Sass is that she never grew out of it. Even in the last months of her life, she was always REAL goofy and silly: she had to sniff every tree on walks, investigate any new object in the house, and communicate her feelings very clearly by staring at her humans and wiggling her eyebrows as needed.

My brother reminded me yesterday that a special thing about Fras was that she literally made friends with everybody. I'm biased, but Sassy was definitely one of the most happy-go-lucky dogs I've ever met. Any visitors to the Kurz house would always be greeted by a big golden furball bounding up to them and an exuberant tail swishing everywhere.. Sassy really had a way of sashaying her tail expressively (often resulting in pup hair everywhere ha). Like a barometer, her tail would tell us how she was feeling - up meant alert, low with a wide arc meant she was up to something mischievous, and vigorous wagging meant that people were home!

Man, there are too many memories to count.. Some favorites: her habit, on hiking trips, of constantly trotting up the trail to investigate the woods, then coming back (unprompted) to check on us every few minutes and make sure all was well; her inimitable smile; her extreme self-control in waiting until she got the "OK!" to get her food every night; her ridiculous but ridiculously endearing habit of stealing socks (partly for her own pleasure and partly to tell us that she had to go outside); her exuberant pride upon fetching the morning paper for us; her way of swimming like an otter; her boisterous back-wiggling, especially on freshly-mown lawns; her self-invented version of tug-of-war, which we dubbed "Wolf"; her liquid brown eyes; her way of nuzzling her head on your hand to ask for pats...

I could go on for pages, but I won't here. The point is that Sassy was a great great dog who loved people, had a charming sense of humor, and spread good-natured cheer bountifully. She wasn't a perfect show dog, she wasn't always exquisitely behaved (although she was normally quite good), and she wasn't the strongest or fastest.. But she was unquestionably part of the family, a steady bright spot in the household - comforting, joyful, silly.

I'll wrap up by saying that as hard as it is to lose a dog like Sassafras, the circumstances of her death almost couldn't have been better.. She had lived for over a decade, was happy & comfortable right up to her death, and she had - in the past year - gotten to make field trips to Princeton & the beach, as well as numerous local outings around our hometown.. Also, oddly enough, my mom had been making a diligent effort while I've been in Barcelona to send me updates on Sassy almost every day. I'll finish up the Frassy tribute with a couple of excerpts from my Mom's daily e-mails:

"While we were watching the news tonight, Frass was extra cute. Instead of snoozing, she had all 3 of her pup toys between her paws. She busily chewed on her green dog bone stuffed toy, then focused on the green & white rope toys... I think that she feared that she would miss her meal by going out into the garage. When I walked into the dining room, Frass silently--yet very definitely--communicated her displeasure. She danced around in place, then rushed toward Dad, skidded to a halt, plopped her pottom down on the rug, and pointedly stared at him while vigorously wagging (while sitting). When we both laughed at her antics, she actually harrumped and laid down. Frass is so funny...I just went to the kitchen to eat a few Fat Free Pringles. One fell on the floor. I simply announced, 'Git it,' and Frass appeared instantly! She eagerly snarfed it up. No need for a broom and dustpan."